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HELP ME-I'M A NEWBIE


Elixer

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I am about to start saving towards my very first boat and I want it to be a narrowboat. I plan to buy one somewhere in England and drive it back to London.

 

1. I understand that a boat has an MOT in the form of a certificate and that part follows the boat in question.

 

2. I'm guessing the mooring will be taken care of too because the boat will be in water and I could handle the rest of the moorings on the way back with the boat if and when I need to rest.

 

3. I have no license. I want to buy the boat and then take a crash course.

 

Please hold my hand and guide me through this puzzle. help.gif

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I am about to start saving towards my very first boat and I want it to be a narrowboat. I plan to buy one somewhere in England and drive it back to London.

 

1. I understand that a boat has an MOT in the form of a certificate and that part follows the boat in question.

 

2. I'm guessing the mooring will be taken care of too because the boat will be in water and I could handle the rest of the moorings on the way back with the boat if and when I need to rest.

 

3. I have no license. I want to buy the boat and then take a crash course.

 

Please hold my hand and guide me through this puzzle. help.gif

 

The MOT equivalent is called a boat safety certificate (BSC) which is renewable every three years and goes with the boat.

 

You are allowed to moor on canal towpaths for free for two weeks unless the local signs say differtly. Mooring on rivers not administered by the Canal & River Trust is a different case. If you do not have a home mooring there are aditional 'hoops' to go through in terms of distance travelled in a year.

 

You do not need a 'driving license' to operate a leisure boat on non tidal rivers and canals.

 

You do howeverneed a license to have your boat on the water (Equivalent to a tax disc). With Canal & River Trust waterways this stays with the owner so you will have to buy one as soon as you take possession of the boat. You will be asked for proof of insurance and a current BSC before you can buy the license.

 

Tim

Edited by Tim Lewis
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The MOT equivalent is called a boat safety certificate (BSC) which is renewable every three years and goes with the boat.

 

You are allowed to moor on canal towpaths for free for two weeks unless the local signs say differtly. Mooring on rivers not administered by the Canal & River Trust is a different case. If you do not have a home mooring there are aditional 'hoops' to go through in terms of distance travelled in a year.

 

You do not need a 'driving license' to operate a leisure boat on non tidal rivers and canals.

 

You do howeverneed a license to have your boat on the water (Equivalent to a tax disc). With Canal & River Trust waterways this stays with the owner so you will have to buy one as soon as you take possession of the boat. You will be asked for proof of insurance and a current BSC before you can buy the license.

 

Tim

 

Thank you Tim. That was helpful :)

 

1. Buy a boat with a valid boat safety certificate, get it insured and buy a license.

 

2. I may be able to moor for free all the way back unless the local sign say otherwise. Rivers are different story.

 

3. What is home mooring?

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It's every four years.

 

Thank you.

When you have driven it back to London you will need a permanent mooring (probably) just be aware that it costs a lot.

 

Thank you.

1. Buy a boat with a valid boat safety certificate (Updated every 4-years.), get it insured and buy a license.

2. I may be able to moor for free all the way back unless the local sign say otherwise. Rivers are different story.

3. A home mooring is a permanent mooring for when I get back. I now understand what Tim meant by hoops through terms of distance travelled within a year.

I think this should be easy. I also understand that the home mooring can be expensive.

I wanted a sailaway shell at first. I need utilities, I was not thinking strait.

Edited by Elixer
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Not correct, there are hundreds of boats continuously cruising the London waterways.

 

Tim

 

I think I confused the situation. I now realise that a home mooring would be needed after bringing it back only if that was where I intended to stay. I want to come and go as I please. I had not thought it all through when I wrote that.

Edited by Elixer
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I wanted a sailaway shell at first. I need utilities, I was not thinking strait.

 

Be very aware that fitting out any boat takes a lot longer that you think. If you are not ding it full time think about well over a year and some are not completed within 5 years.

 

Now you say sailaway you need to research the Recreational Craft Directive to see if you need to build to the standards that requires AND get it all properly documented and certified.

 

I think it still holds that if you do not sell it for 5 years after putting it into use a private individual only needs to build to pass the Boat Safety Scheme but if you do that and have to sell early it may hinder you getting a good price.

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<Snip>

 

3. What is home mooring?

 

A home mooring is a permanant mooring that you rent/lease/buy. In London they are in short supply, especially residential ones, and are expensive.

 

When you buy your license you will have to declare if you have a home mooring or you intend to 'continuously cruise' which means that you are supposed to be on a continuous journey, In effect it basically means that you have to move your boat every two weeks. How far you move your boat and over what length of canal is not determined in law but CRT have attempted to set their own standards.

 

If you do intend to continuously cruise in London be aware that the canals here are now extremely crowded in terms of moorings and complying with the navigation regulations and servicing your boat (Getting water and disposing of toilet waste) will take up a lot of your free time. I recommend that you join the very active London Boaters facebook group to get a feeling of what it is like.

 

Tim

Edited by Tim Lewis
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Be very aware that fitting out any boat takes a lot longer that you think. If you are not ding it full time think about well over a year and some are not completed within 5 years.

 

Now you say sailaway you need to research the Recreational Craft Directive to see if you need to build to the standards that requires AND get it all properly documented and certified.

 

I think it still holds that if you do not sell it for 5 years after putting it into use a private individual only needs to build to pass the Boat Safety Scheme but if you do that and have to sell early it may hinder you getting a good price.

 

I wanted to strip it down to the bare minimum because I was not thinking. I then wanted an engine. I then wanted electric and on and on... I now know it is not a project I want. I want to buy a 2nd hand one and rip out all the lovely pillows.

 

A home mooring is a permanant mooring that you rent/lease/buy. In London they are in short supply, especially residential ones, and are expensive.

 

When you buy your license you will have to declare if you have a home mooring or you intend to 'continuously cruise' which means that you are supposed to be on a continuous journey, In effect it basically means that you have to move your boat every two weeks. How far you move your boat and over what length of canal is not determined in law but CRT have attempted to set their own standards.

 

If you do intend to continuously cruise in London be aware that the canals here are now extremely crowded in terms of moorings and complying with the navigation regulations and servicing your boat (Getting water and disposing of toilet waste) will take up a lot of your free time. I recommend that you join the very active London Boaters facebook group to get a feeling of what it is like.

 

Tim

 

I'll cruise :) I understand the home mooring to be just like buying or renting land.

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Phew. A difficult one from scratch. Can I ask why you need to be in London? I can't imagine a worse place to want to live on a narrowboat. But that's just me - I hate the place!

 

This is all so new Max :) I naturally thought about bringing it to where I am now. It never occurred to me that the world is my oyster. I think i'll do a bit of travelling instead.

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Do make sure you get a survey done on the boat you like the look of - it can save a lot of heartache (and money) later.

I fell in love with a boat, had it surveyed (thank goodness) and found it was in a very poor state - hidden behind wall cladding and under the (rotten) flooring. It could have cost me long thousands to sort it out.

Interestingly it was later bought, trailered to London where I understand it is now rented accommodation likely to sink fairly soon!

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Do make sure you get a survey done on the boat you like the look of - it can save a lot of heartache (and money) later.

I fell in love with a boat, had it surveyed (thank goodness) and found it was in a very poor state - hidden behind wall cladding and under the (rotten) flooring. It could have cost me long thousands to sort it out.

Interestingly it was later bought, trailered to London where I understand it is now rented accommodation likely to sink fairly soon!

 

Hello Max :) Can you please run me through this survey thing? May I hire a surveyor to meet me at the address where the narrowboat is and get an inspection done before purchasing it?

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Hello Max :) Can you please run me through this survey thing? May I hire a surveyor to meet me at the address where the narrowboat is and get an inspection done before purchasing it?

You get a survey done before purchasing, but it needs to out of the water survey so the boat will need taking to the nearest dry dock / craning area. The survey is usually done after you've made an offer (like when buying a house).

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I am very grateful :) thank you.

 

 

Wow, is that how to do it! Who would have thought it was that easy.cheers.gif

 

Howard

 

What a cool forum this is. :)

You get a survey done before purchasing, but it needs to out of the water survey so the boat will need taking to the nearest dry dock / craning area. The survey is usually done after you've made an offer (like when buying a house).

 

Understood :) this is why I keep finding boats for sale that are not in the water.

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What type of toilet do you want in your boat?

 

That's easy. Gold.

What type of toilet do you want in your boat?

 

What type of toilet do you want in your boat?

 

Just kidding series :) I know this is a tough one. I have no clue.

 

The survey should also be in water as well.

 

Do you mean there's 2 stages? Is this compulsory?

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Do you mean there's 2 stages? Is this compulsory?

 

 

It's in the same time frame of when the survivor visits.

 

Usually when buying a boat it will be in the water, you take it out to have survey, but you can't see if somethings work if it's out of the water (like engine). Nothing is compulsory but if your spending a good amount of cash on a boat then don't skimp on a in-water test as well as a out of water survey.

 

If a boat is already out of the water, my question would be why!

Edited by Robbo
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It's in the same time frame of when the survivor visits.

 

Usually when buying a boat it will be in the water, you take it out to have survey, but you can't see if somethings work if it's out of the water (like engine). Nothing is compulsory but if your spending a good amount of cash on a boat then don't skimp on a in-water test as well as a out of water survey.

 

If a boat is already out of the water, my question would be why!

 

I ask myself the same question. I will insist on a in water survey. I guess the out water survey could be about the condition of exterior.

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I ask myself the same question. I will insist on a in water survey. I guess the out water survey could be about the condition of exterior.

 

It's not an either/or -- you want the surveyor to look at the hull out of the water, and test things like the engine in the water.

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